U.S. men's curling team out of medal contention

Tuesday

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir's brought the house down at the Pacific Coliseum.

Knocked the Russians right off their traditional spot atop the ice dance podium, too.

Virtue and Moir won the Olympic gold medal in ice dance Monday night, a first for the Canadians -- heck, for anybody in North America. For only the third time since ice dance became an Olympic sport in 1976, a Russian or Soviet couple did not win the dance gold.

The Russians couldn't even win the silver, either. That went to two-time U.S. champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White, giving the United States back-to-back dance medals for the first time. Davis and White's silver was the 25th medal won by the U.S., matching its record set in 2006 for medals won at a non-domestic Olympics.

The Americans are guaranteed of passing that, because the U.S. women's hockey team can do no worse than a silver medal.

Reigning world champions Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin of Russia were third. Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, silver medalists at the 2006 Olympics, were fourth.

Virtue's jaw dropped when she saw their overall score of 221.57 and Moir jumped to his feet, screaming almost as loudly as the crowd that was shattering the decibel meter. With Davis and White, second after the original dance, already done, Virtue and Moir knew the gold was all but theirs.

- Canada's men's curling team beat the Americans 7-2, eliminating the U.S. team from the tournament. One of the Canadian curlers called it "some redemption for the hockey team."

U.S. skip John Shuster's team got an early lead over Canada, but wound up losing in a shortened match. The Americans fell to 2-6 going into their finale Monday night against China.

Shuster won bronze four years ago, helping bring more attention to this sport. It was the first U.S. curling medal at the Olympics and the first in a major men's competition since 1978. They couldn't build on it, though, losing three straight matches in extra ends (which are like innings in baseball).

"We've played good and just haven't quite gotten there," Shuster said.

- What a day to remember for U.S. coach Mark Johnson: He celebrated the anniversary of the "Miracle on Ice," in which he scored two goals, and saw his team avenge their 2006 Olympic shootout loss to Sweden with a 9-1 victory.

The Americans jumped ahead 4-0, then put the game away with four goals early in the third period, all against Kim Martin, the same goalie who stunned them in Turin. Monique Lamoureux scored three goals. Angela Ruggiero, a four-time Olympian playing in her record 250th game, also scored.

Canada advanced with a 4-0 victory over Finland.

- Both team sprints -- a freestyle event with two skiers taking turns going three laps -- were decided in dashes to the finish.

Norway's Petter Northug did it in the men's event, pulling away from Germany's Axel Teichmann. Norway's Ola Vigen Hattestad -- the reigning world champion in the individual and team sprints, and winner of the past two World Cup sprint titles -- pulled out because of a sore throat.

Americans Torin Koos and Andy Newell were ninth.

Germany won the women's team sprint when Claudia Nystad beat Sweden's Anna Haag across the line by 0.6 seconds. Americans Caitlin Compton and Kikkan Randall were sixth.

Russia took bronze in both events.

- On his final jump in the team event, Gregor Schlierenzauer, 20, soared farther than anyone else in these Winter Games to wrap up the gold for Austria. This was his third medal; he won bronze in both individual events.

Switzerland's Simon Ammann, who won both individual events, didn't compete in the team event because his country didn't have the four jumpers needed for a team.

- More changes are coming to the Whistler Sliding Center, this time to shave the ice in several tricky curves in hopes of making the track easier for bobsledders to navigate.

"It's still going to be the toughest track in the world. No doubt," U.S. coach Brian Shimer told the Associated Press.

Changes came after two sleds crashed during supplemental training, which many nations chose to skip, opting for rest instead.

The women's event is today and Wednesday, with the men's four-man event Friday and Saturday.

- Magdalena Neuner of Germany won't go for a third gold medal, pulling out of the relay Tuesday because of exhaustion.

Neuner said she is "happy and satisfied" with having won gold in the pursuit and mass start races, and silver in the sprint, but that her Olympics have been "incredibly stressful."

- Defending Olympic champion Han Xiaopeng of China and this year's top jumper, Anton Kushnir of Belarus, both failed to make the final in men's aerials.

Kushnir won four times this season but fell on his second jump of qualifying Monday night at Cypress Mountain to drop out of the top 12. Han also fell on his second jump to finish 21st.

Finals are Thursday night, when China's Jia Zongyang will go last, after finishing first in qualifying with a score of 242.52.

All three Canadians -- Steve Omischl, Warren Shouldice and Kyle Nissen -- advanced, as did Ryan St. Onge and Jeret "Speedy" Peterson of the United States. Peterson nailed two solid jumps, giving him the chance to try his quintuple-twisting "Hurricane" jump Thursday.

-- from wire reports

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